Has, or would your dealer take parts off a new sled to keep you on the snow?

[600xc4me]

I'm wondering how many of you have a dealer who has, or who you know would take parts off of a new sled he had sitting there, to keep you on the snow?
My dealer rules, and does everything he possibly can to keep his customers happy. Short of robbing parts from a new sled or lending out a spare sled when mine is down. I am down waiting for a new primary for my D8. We had to cancel a trip we had planned last weekend because of it. And today I find out it will be all week yet till I get the sled back. And I want to ride right now. We have awesome weather this week and I can hardly stand just sitting here waiting. I know dealers have zero responsibility to swap parts from a new sled to get you going asap, then just replace it once the needed part shows up, but I have been hearing from a lot of comments from here of guys who's dealers either swap parts if it's a minor deal, lending you a spare sled, even heard of one who lent out his personal sled so the customer could ride that weekend. Like I said I know this is purely up to the dealer, and his level of service and customer satisfaction, but how many of you have a dealer that would do that for you? I asked my dealer last year about stealing parts for when my motor went down for time number four, and parts were back ordered. I got shot down pretty fast, understandable since it was a motor. I didn't expect anything different. But I am now a bit scared to ask him again. So what do you think? Would I be out of line asking him to rob a clutch for me?

 

[aebsledder]

I got a voltage regulator off of the showroom model at the dealer I take my sled to. If it wasn't for them I would have sold my Polaris long ago. I am not the only one either. The showroom sled I got my VR from was missing shocks and some other stuff as well. Doesn't say much for the brand, but when you have a good dealer sometimes the brand becomes less important. The only bad thing is that I have to drive a couple of hours to get to them. I keep trying to give our local dealership some business, but they just can't seem to get it together. I went there today to try and buy a new belt, but they didn't have any. When it comes time to get a new one it will be a no brainer on who I buy it from.

 

[PowderMiner]

I have been to the shop several times over the last couple of years where the mechanic unloading my sled (Tuesday morning) always asks, "when do you need it by?" and I say, "I’ll be back Thursday afternoon". They have even said, "we might not have the parts"; but they get it done. It might have even come at the cost of them not riding their personal or demo sled that weekend. I never hope to limit their riding, and I hope I have not, but they do take care of me and I appreciate it a TON!!! I know they are dedicated to getting me out on the snow, safely, with the best sled I can afford. I don't know if I get special attention, but I get way better than good enough attention to be a loyal customer that values their expertise, patience, and partnership in my snowmobile adventure.
Thank You!
Skagit Valley Polaris, Burlington Washington

 

[600xc4me]

My dealer is also very good. I would recommend them to anybody. Especially when it comes to warranty issues or just plain knowledge, always friendly and I end up sitting in there talking for up to an hour almost every time I walk in. They are awesome in that area. but if the parts he ordered for my sled are not in, then there is just no way he can get my sled done, short of robbing parts, which I'm getting the feeling he does not like the idea of doing. Good dealer but could do more if he wanted to do all he could to get me back up and running. My sled in total has sat there for about four months, down, or waiting on parts. That is one area I'm not very happy with.

 

[EricW]

My dealer has done it for me many times. If his crew is busy he will let me ron a floor model for parts. This type of relationship is a two way street though and I imagine there are a lot of customers who are not at the trust/loyalty/experience level to hold up their part of the deal.

No doubt a tough call for each dealer individually. Where would it all end if you were expected to do everything for everybody. I try not to abuse my dealers kindness, but in a pinch I know he will come through for me.

As far as your situation, a clutch shouldn't be that big a deal to get. I have a couple new P-85's on my shelf. He should either priority mail or grab one off a low risk for sale sled and get ya going. Wish I was in Canada, I'd get ya a spare coming. With customs and all you'd be quicker to turn one out of a centerline wheel than wait for shipping from the US. Hope you get on the snow soon. EW

 

[skibreeze]

My previous dealer is out of business, but was awesome at getting the parts that I needed. This was before so many of the backorders of v.r's and ecu's. The dealer that I am currently using would not pull parts off a showroom sled to get me up and running again.

 

[BYOB]

I thought I broke the spring in my secondary on the first day of a 3 day ride earlier this year. Some buddies were coming out that evening to join us in the mountains 6 hours from the dealer. A 3 minute phone call and they told me to send the buddy over and they gave him a complete secondary off a demo sled to bring to me no questions asked. It ended up being a broken chaincase tensioner and I was able to patch it up with some redneck engineering and some beer and never used the secondary. But when I brought it back along with a bottle of scotch he didn't want anything for it and didn't even want to accept the bottle as a thank you for the favor. I will be a polaris man as long as the dealer stays in the same hands.... cant beat that service/helpfulness.

 

[tdblakes]

I was on a trip when my VR and ECU went out... went to a dealer that I had never been to before and he took a VR and ECU off a new sitting 800 to get me back up and running that day. He was really busy too but got his mechanics to fit me in. Had to sit and wait a few hours but it was worth it. Plus Polaris warrantied it even tho i'm out of warranty. I drove away happy

 

[ElectroTech]

Generally most dealers would take anything you need that requires simple unhooking or a couple of bolts, a primary would be a stretch for most, first off he needs to see the sled, check alignment, motor mounts, crank taper condition, belt deflection, belt to sheave, not nearly as simple as say a vr.

 

[600xc4me]

Last spring I had my VR go out, my sled sat OUTSIDE, at the dealer for three months waiting for that one $150 part.(back ordered) By the time I got it back we had puddles. Got in one fun ride on the water and then parked it. Kind of bad seeing he had 800's sitting there that would not move till the next fall. Could have been riding the next day. I agree most good dealer should and probably would pull a simple part like that. But not here. It's the only area I think my dealer could improve. And him not knowing my sled is not the problem as to why he wouldn't want to swap out a clutch. My sled is in there a lot. He used it to test out a PC5 before recommending them to customers. And it shouldn't be a trust issue, as we know each other very well in and out of the dealership. Go to the same church, been out sledding him before. It's not just a dealer/customer relationship. Again I wouldn't EXPECT him to do this. But I mean seeing how good their service is in every other aspect it's a bit of a surprise that he wouldn't. Especially seeing the relationship we have and how well we know each other. If dealers you have never been in before swap parts for you when you need them, then one you deal with everyday, and have a good relationship with could too. I still won't complain, but it would be nice to see this area of service match the rest of his service.

BTW Eric, thanks for the thought. Nice to have some fellow believers on the forum. My buddy Julius you talked to on the phone a while ago, about running HID's in his sled is planning to give you a call back one of these days. Even with a rectifier we couldn't get them going.

 

[deepdiver]

I have a thread on the Idaho area about a dealer that went above and beyond in McCall ID last weekend. He took Reeds out of his perdsonal sled to get my riding buddy back up.

I know of a few new sleds at the Cycle Barn in Smokey Point WA that are waiting on Vregs and ecu's as they canabolized to get customers up.

 

[TXStarfire]

Action Motor Sports in Idaho Falls, Idaho has done it many times for me both sleds and bikes. Joe rocks.

 

[meathooker]

i have a brand new primary for a cfi 800 (literally in the box; unopened)

have him buy it for you!

 

[Dazzler]

Our dealer (Mountain Toys) goes above and beyond. I have seen him take parts off his own sled, new sleds, lend out his personal sled but the icing was back in December of 07, there was some confusion on an order (my mistake) for some parts for my 03 Vertical Mistake. We were leaving the next day on a five day sled trip to Revestoke and wrong parts. My dealer had a customer back out of a snowcheck 800/163 Dragon that day so he said lets demo it! They hauled it in, assembled it, and off I went. Now I'm not sure if he was being generous or just smart as when I returned I purchased the sled rather than returning it. I have never missed a sled trip thanks to the boy's (and girls) at Mountain Toys, they pull through every time one way or another!

 

[600xc4me]

i have a brand new primary for a cfi 800 (literally in the box; unopened)

have him buy it for you!

haha thanks for the offer. But it's only two days till it should be ready, so I'll stick it out and wait for it show.

Alright well thanks guys. Next time I'm waiting for a simple bolt on item I'll see what he can do. For the clutch it's supposed to show up friday. So I'll just wait for it.